St. Mary Avon Holds First Annual Wildcat Walkathon

Cloudy skies and drizzle may have put a damper on some events, but it certainly did not rain on the parade of the first annual Wildcat Walkathon.

On Thursday, May 11, more than 250 students, faculty, and parent volunteers from St. Mary of the Immaculate Conception School in Avon walked to raise funds to support the school’s new STEM designation by the Ohio Department of Education. Students walked as a group down Stoney Ridge Road and Hunters Trail before returning to the school, with grades 5 through 8 taking two laps on the course.

Many who walked said it “felt great to get out in the fresh air” for a good cause. Students also participated in other activities throughout the day. Classes kicked off the day with a STEM project where student teams worked to build tall towers using no more than 6 sheets of copy paper and 36-inches of tape, and ended the day joining together in praying the Rosary as a community. Students also gathered throughout the morning and afternoon to paint rocks to hide over summer break — using the hashtag #StMaryAvonRocks — through the Northeastern Ohio Rocks Facebook Group.

Through corporate and private sponsorships, the inaugural event garnered nearly $20,000 at press time for the school’s STEM program. Funds raised will be put toward the purchase of a laser printer to support STEM learning, as well as other supplies necessary to aid students in STEM innovation.

More information on St. Mary of the Immaculate Conception may be found by visiting stmaryavon.org, or following St. Mary School Avon, Ohio on Facebook, or @StMaryAvon on Twitter.

St. Mary’s is a community-driven Catholic parish and school in Avon, Ohio. St. Mary of the Immaculate Conception School provides Faith-based education for Preschool through Grade 8, with the goal of creating academically and spiritually empowered citizens with a life-long love of learning. Beyond standard academics, St. Mary offers routine use of cutting edge technology in each classroom; music and art enrichment programs for every grade; a wide variety of extra-curricular activities including Robotics, Academic Challenge, Drama, Environmental, and a variety of other clubs; as well as CYO and intramural athletics for every grade level.